A Drabble a Dozen
by Crime Scene Fairy
Summary: A drabble collection exploring the characters and couples of the Old Republic. Chapter 3: Corso Riggs and smuggler Rayley Okarr: "And what's with the captain crap? Rayley, Corso. Rayley. It's not a bad word." "Whatever you say, Cap… Rayley."
1. Drabbles 1 - 10 (Nyrial and Quinn)

**Author's Note:** My first journey into The Old Republic. :) Each chapter will have the same format - focusing on one pairing or character, twelve drabbles each chapter, based on the iPod challenge where you shuffle your iPod and write a drabble for the first twelve that come up before each song is done. It was a challenge. But I'm proud of the finished product.

Since I'm in a little Sith Warrior run (I have played none of my other classes in two days...), I decided to go with Nyrial and Quinn first. I love Quinn. I know he's going to betray me. But he's still adorable when my Sith flirts with him.

I don't own The Old Republic. I partially own some of the characterization of Nyrial Evnick my (somewhat) neutral Sith Marauder.

Please enjoy, and please review. :) I'd love to hear what you have to say about this!

* * *

**A Drabble a Dozen  
**A drabble collection exploring the characters and couples of the Old Republic.

* * *

**Drabbles 1 - 10  
**_Nyrial Evnick and Malavai Quinn_  
"I'm not dancing. "You're no fun, Quinn."

* * *

**Almost** – Bowling for Soup

There were so many things that could have been. What if she had spared the son of the spy on Balmorra? What if she had spared a soldier, a general, what if she had been at a different place at a different time?

She long ago stopped thinking about those.

But after Quinn's betrayal, Nyrial can't help those _what ifs_.

What if she had killed him for his betrayal? What if he had said something after Baras had told him to kill her? What if she had never let him on the ship on Balmorra?

And then, of course, there was the big one.

_What if everything we have is a lie?_

* * *

**If Today Was Your Last Day** – Nickelback

He watches her laugh as they sit in a cantina on Nar Shaddaa.

Nyrial and Vette have something of a sister relationship; Quinn has heard Nyrial refer to their ship as their "strange little community", and Vette had replied that she better be prepared if they started calling her mom. They seem to be back on that topic now, after a few Corellian ales.

"But Quinn won't be calling you Mom, will you?" Vette asks, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Maybe honey or sweetheart or some other sickeningly sweet term of endearment…"

Nyrial only rolls her eyes and laughs again as Quinn smiles.

"If today was my last day, at least I'm in the company of a good looking soldier," Nyrial adds, eyes sparkling as she smiles at Quinn. She pauses. "And a Twi'lek."

Quinn ignores both Vette's laughter and the flitflies in his stomach.

* * *

**Turn It Up** – Pillar

Broonmark has broken the lights on the ship, and Quinn's not exactly sure how. In fact, he doesn't want to know how. He just wants them fixed already, so he can be sure that Pierce doesn't blow something up or Vette and Jaesa don't try and kill each other or stars know what else, considering the fact that everyone on this ship besides Quinn himself is insane.

"I'm going to shoot that thing," Quinn mutters to himself.

"You do that," Nyrial murmurs from beside him. A moment later, he feels a hand tugging at his arm, and a moment later, a familiar mutter in his ear saying, "For now, let's ignore them and just enjoy the dark for a while."

A few hours later, all hopes of shooting Broonmark are long forgotten.

* * *

**S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)** – Jordin Sparks

"I'm not dancing."

"You're no fun, Quinn."

"I'm here to do a job, my lord-"

"Don't give me the _my lord_ bantha shit. Tonight, you're my husband, I'm your wife. This is the closest thing you and I are _ever_ going to get to a honeymoon, and so help me, I'm dancing with you tonight."

"My lo-"

"_Mal_."

"…fine, Nyrial."

"That's my boy."

* * *

**Crawling Back to You** – Daughtry

Four days after his betrayal, four days after he tried to murder her, Nyrial storms into the medbay, closes the door behind her, and slaps him hard enough that he sees stars.

"I cannot kriffing believe you," she hissed.

Quinn was surprised she was so calm after it. She had warned him that her trust would have to be earned back. Since then, he had given her space, had slept in the medbay since he was sure Pierce and Vette were plotting to kill him in his sleep and feed him to Broonmark.

But that's not important right now.

The important thing right now is that the powerful Sith he's known for so long is not in front of him.

Nyrial Evnick Quinn, a woman with a smile and a remark for every situation, the woman he fell in love with, the woman who married him, the woman he tried to murder, is standing in front of him. And she's crying.

"Why?" she asked, finally. She doesn't say anything else, but the tears keep going.

Quinn doesn't say anything; he pulls her into his arms. She doesn't resist, and for over an hour, she cries in his arms and he wonders if he can ever make up for what he did to her.

In the time he holds her, he doesn't let her go.

* * *

**The Anthem** – Good Charlotte

"Stars dammit, Vette!"

It's Quinn's second day on the ship, and he's not used to watching Baras' apprentice walk into the galley wearing a black tank-top and leggings only. He was pretty sure he choked on whatever he was swallowing yesterday.

He's also not used to the hyperactive Twi'lek that Nyrial calls her _friend_.

Vette races in, holding something in her hands that Quinn can't see. She pauses, grins cheerfully at Quinn, and says "You'll thank me later" before racing into the med bay and locking it behind her.

Before he can wonder what just happened, Nyrial races in from the direction of the showers, clad only in a bath towel, barely covering everything, but revealing toned arms and legs and a slender body. She pauses in the doorway, her face flushing as deeply as Quinn's might be in that moment.

A moment later, she squeals and dives back into the bathrooms, sounding more like the twenty-year-old girl she is instead of one of the most dangerous apprentices of a Sith Lord.

"Vette, you are dead!" Nyrial screams.

Vette's laughter answers her threats.

He shakes his head, goes back to the briefings in his hand, and pretends that what just happened didn't.

But for a moment – a brief moment – Quinn can't help but think _I'm doomed._

* * *

**Not What You See** – Kutless

Quinn realizes he's in trouble the moment that Nyrial Evnick, Sith apprentice to Baras himself, walks into his office, a smirk on her face and the stars in her eyes, and introduces herself.

She's not what he thought she would be. He expected someone taller, for one. She's barely average height. Her hair is deep black and tied back in a tight ponytail, and she's admittedly beautiful.

But it's the way she moves; confident, graceful, and with a disarming smile. She's dangerous in her own way, but not the normal way. And Quinn knows that is her greatest asset. It's what allows her to get what she needs done, and he's thankful that Baras warned him to be prepared for his unusual apprentice.

He stills gets a from-the-gut feeling of _run while you can_, however.

Years later, he'll remember that moment, and be very glad that he hadn't acted on that warning to _run like hell_.

* * *

**It's Not Me, It's You** – Skillet

In the dark of her cabin, while she's wrapped in Quinn's arms, Nyrial thinks.

For their entire relationship, she's been terrified. She's hidden it from him every step of the way; the only two who know are Jaesa and Vette. She tells them nearly everything, though; she knows that betrayal from those two is as likely as a betrayal from Quinn is.

Her father had been a Sith. A powerful one, one that she thought never could be touched. She and her younger brother adored their father, and their Force insensitive mother. They were totally in love.

Nyrial's mother had been murdered when she was twelve. Her brother Niam had been five.

Her father had gone on a rampage; the rival Sith who had been her mother's murder had been tortured to death in their basement.

Nyrial's father had gotten the answer to why the murder had occurred; Brielle Evnick had been vulnerable. Force insensitive. A liability.

When she looks at Quinn, she can't help but wonder if it'll be the same way. If Quinn's Force insensitivity will be his downfall.

She won't let that happen.

* * *

**Cruel Man** – Intwine

There are only a few things in the galaxy that can cause Nyrial to snap. Really, she's actually almost too calm to be a dreaded Sith, let alone the Emperor's Wrath. Everyone has given her crap for it.

But when a gang leader shoots Quinn in the back while they're cleaning out a den on Nar Shaddaa, months after she's forgive him for that betrayal that nearly cost them their marriage, she loses it.

"Mercy!" chokes the gang leader. His gang lies dead around him, and Nyrial glances behind her, not letting the relief she feels be seen, let alone felt by Jaesa a few feet away.

Pierce and Vette are holding Quinn up. He looks to be alive, but in some pain. Vette frowns at the cold, hard look on Nyrial's face, Jaesa winces, Broonmark looks thrilled at the slaughter he knows is about to come, Pierce nods briskly, as if understanding, and Quinn looks away.

Nyrial looks back at the gang leader. "No."

The snapping of his neck echoes through the room.

* * *

**Right Now** – This Beautiful Republic

"Goodbye, Balmorra. I won't miss you."

"Didn't enjoy the planet, my lord?"

"Well, between the constant snipers, the bug-creatures I'll be seeing in my nightmares, and the resistance people trying to kill me at every turn, I'm very, very glad to get off this rock."

"I'll admit, I'm excited for this as well."

"Well, we'll come back eventually and laugh at it all when we're so much better than all of this. Sounds good?"

"Excellent, my lord."

"But right now… off this rock."

"Lead the way, my lord."

"Will do, Quinn."

* * *

**100 Years** – Five For Fighting

"I don't want to live for a hundred years."

They're lying in the bed in the captain's cabin; Quinn's arm is wrapped around her, and she's tracing patterns on his bare chest.

"Really?"

"Really. I don't want to be a powerful Sith Lord and watch my less powerful friends die and leave me with the backstabbing idiots in the Empire to deal with. There's too much I want to do before I deal with them, anyway."

"Such as?"

"Visit Coruscant without starting a war. Swim on Mon Calamari. Go camping in Dromund Kaas."

"You might run into problems with all three."

"I have time."

"Not enough for everything you want to do before we die."

She smiles a particular smile; it's the one she gives when she knows something that he doesn't. "Well, I got one thing on the bucket list down." She leans in, and whispers, with more excitement he's ever heard in his life, "I'm pregnant."

* * *

**Some Nights** – Fun.

It's these nights that she loves the most.

Every time they reach a new planet, the six of them all go to the local cantina for a night. They're not a Sith Lord and her crew. They're a group of six friends (or as close to friends as some of them can get) just hanging out for a bit.

These nights are the ones that she lets herself be Nyrial, twenty-year-old girl who's head over heels in love, rising to her true potential, surrounded by people she trusts with her life, and actually somewhat happy despite the crap going on in her life.

These nights, she's not the Emperor's Wrath.

And as she smiles across the table at the man she loves, that's enough for now.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next time: Adriane and Torian. :) Please review!


	2. Drabbles 11 - 20 (Adriane and Torian)

**Author's Note:** Wow. Less than twenty-four hours. :) This was a bit easier to write, but Torian and Adriane both kept getting physically harmed in their drabbles - mostly because Adriane keeps getting killed on Dromund Kaas. This is irony.

Don't own Old Republic. Wish I did. We'd get a giant eight-class mission with EVERYONE and it'd be possible to have all your classes come and meet and hang out.

Please review, loves, and thanks to Imaginatrix. :)

* * *

**A Drabble a Dozen  
**A drabble collection exploring the characters and couples of the Old Republic.

* * *

**Drabbles 11 - 20**  
_Adriane Lok and Torian Cadera_  
"Nice takedown, cyar'ika." "You always knew I was a better shot than you."

* * *

**Just Like You** – Three Days Grace

He might be of his blood, but he will never be Jicoln.

All his life, Torian has been judged as the traitor's blood. Always looked down upon, minimal support, and a whole mess of family issues to work through.

When she looks at him, though, he feels like so much more than a traitor's son.

When she smiles, he feels like she sees past that stigma, sees past bloodlines and honor and so many things that define Mandalorian heritage. He doesn't know what she sees, but at least she sees _something_.

When he smiles back at her, he promises to himself that he will be better than the traitor.

* * *

**Stronger** – Trust Company

She's shutting him out again.

She does that when she really feels like crap. She shuts herself down and doesn't let anyone in, until Torian practically has to force her open. Her holding things like this in never helps; she makes mistakes, and mistakes get people killed.

And right now, Torian knows that'll make things worse.

They've just gotten back from a job gone wrong; a bounty from a friend of Adriane's went south, and ended with Torian's wrist broken, Gault in a kolto tank, Adriane's eye blackened, and the target – a former slave who aided a resistance movement – is dead.

The job wasn't assassination. That's not Adriane's style. This job was from the Empire (from the Darth Occulus herself) to smuggle the leader – only about twenty-one years old – off Nar Shaddaa and into Imperial hands, to get him to safety on Dromund Kaas.

Adriane's blaming herself.

After leaving her alone with her thoughts for an hour, Torian has Mako slice into her quarters, and he steps into the dim room. The silence of the room is broken with his sighing as he sees her lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a tired, sad look on her face.

"Thought I was stronger than that," she murmurs. She looks more shaken, and Torian knows why; Adriane counts Darth Occulus (Kadie, he knows her real name is) as a friend. Adriane doesn't like to fail her friends no matter what.

She twirls a strand of copper hair around her finger as Torian sits next to her. "I failed."

He doesn't say anything. Instead, he pulls her into his arms and holds her there, alone in the dark and silence, until she falls asleep there.

He doesn't let her go.

* * *

**Missing** – Evanescence

The time it spends to get to Hoth are the longest hours in Adriane's life.

What are they doing to Torian? Torturing him? Or was he already dead and his body was just being used at bait?

They weren't bluffing about having him. They had called her moments after she had tried to call him, showing that they had his comm. They hadn't given her any proof that Torian was even still alive when the call came in, but stars dammit, Adriane cannot grasp with the reality that her Mandalorian – _the man she's long since in love with, the man she trusts at her back no matter what_ – might be dead.

"Please don't be dead."

Blizz chatters something at her, something encouraging and fight-ready, but she doesn't hear him. Her thoughts and mind are on a frozen planet that their next destination.

Where Torian is.

_Torian, just… hang on, please. We're coming._

* * *

**You Gave Me a Promise** – Fireflight

"I'll be back soon."

"You better. Next time, I'm coming."

"Adriane-"

"Oh, _I_ get it. This is a boy's weekend, Adriane, you're not allowed. And I doubt you want to deal with all the testosterone that's going to be coming from them..."

"Shut up, Gault!"

"Plus, you're both starting to talk in unison. It's starting get scary. You need alone time."

"Gault, you're going to lose that other horn if you don't move your ass out of here now…"

"Leaving now, leaving now…"

"Nice takedown, cyar'ika."

"You always knew I was a better shot than you."

"And I love that."

"K'oyacyi."

"Darasuum."

* * *

**This Song Saved My Life** – Simple Plan

She doesn't know what she'd do without them.

Sure, she wants to shoot Skadge sometimes, but he's saved her life more times than she cares to think about. Mako is her sister, and she'll sooner die than abandon her. She wants to strangle Gault most of the time, but he's still a great friend. And she adores Blizz, little Jawa that he is.

Words don't describe Torian. She can't tell him how much he means to her, how grateful she is to him, how glad she is that they've made it through everything together more or less in tact.

She doesn't know how to tell him she loves him back.

That's okay, though; he knows.

* * *

**Everybody (Backstreet's Back)** – Backstreet Boys

Adriane loves Nar Shaddaa. It has a life about it, an excited energy that she's never found anywhere else in the galaxy. So what if it's a wretched hive of scum and villainy? It's a _fun_ wretched hive of scum and villainy.

She leans forward on a balcony, grinning at the buildings, wind blowing copper hair in her face. Her grin turns to a silent, satisfied smirk when Torian slips up behind her, pulling his arms around her, chuckling at how happy she seems right now.

"You need to smile more," Torian murmurs.

"Well, give me a reason," Adriane replies. She twists around so her back is against the balcony, her smile flirty and dangerous, and the first thought that goes through his mind is _she's beautiful when she smiles_.

"I can do that," he replies.

He leans down and kisses her a moment later, and her next thought is this:

_The boy I love and the planet I love. What can be better?_

* * *

**Real World** – Matchbox Twenty

Adriane knows that bedtime stories aren't real. Love at first sight doesn't exist.

She doesn't know why, but that long repeated platitude slips into her mind when she steps up to the Mandalorian camp and notices a blond man about her age, maybe a bit younger. Something sparks in her head at that moment, and for the life of her, she can't tell what it is.

Mako notices him too. "Blondie's cute."

"A bit."

"A bit? Any more interest from you and you'd be drooling."

She ignores her and goes back to the job. But she still shoots him a smile when she leaves to hunt down the head of some giant ugly beast.

Her stomach does back-flips when he smiles back.

* * *

**More** – Usher

They're back on the ship, and Torian can't deny the feeling of joy he gets the moment he steps on. He doesn't recommend getting kidnapped; it's not very fun, you get knocked unconscious for hours, and it's never fun to see your girlfriend absolutely _freaking out because a guy has a blaster to her boyfriend's head_.

"I wish I killed him," Adriane muttered sourly. She's sitting on the bed next to Torian in the medbay, tending to a shallow cut on the side of his neck, a product of his fighting back when they took him hostage.

Torian chuckles weakly; he's exhausted, but he's not letting her see it. "It's the worst of the damage. You came in time."

"With seconds left," Adriane murmurs, smirking slightly. She sighs, and then kisses him softly, more gently than normal. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He doesn't reply, but his smile says what it needs to.

* * *

**Misery** – Maroon 5

"I'm in love with you."

One minute, she's working on an engine problem, her back on the ground and her upper body underneath the giant machine. The next, Torian walks in, tells her something that changes everything about their relationship, and she tries to sit up.

Forgetting that she's under a giant machine.

She remembers as her head slams into the machine, causing her to yelp in considerable pain.

"Son of a whore-" Adriane is nailed back to the ground, and she shakes her head as pain. A moment later, she's pulled out from under, and Torian's concerned eyes are waiting for her.

"Are you alright?" Torian demands, tone both protective and worried.

She doesn't reply. Instead, she grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him down, into a long, hard, rough kiss that both have waited far too long for.

* * *

**Broken Pieces** – Apocalyptica feat. Lacey

They're both sitting in the medbay, silent as the dead, as Adriane stitches up a serious wound in Torian's back.

"You should have ducked," Adriane tells him tightly. He can tell she's pissed, but he doesn't care. He did what he had to.

"You would have been hit if I had," Torian points out.

In his mind, better he get hurt than her. Except that he's fully aware that it's the exact opposite in her mind. Protecting each other is a staple in their relationship; when the other gets hurt physically, the other one goes into overdrive emotionally.

"Better me than you, mesh'la."

"So says you," Adriane murmurs, but she's blushing and looks calmer. She shakes her head, and then strokes his back, sending tingles down his spine. "But you're a Mandalorian boy. It's to be expected."

Torian chuckles. "About time you caught on."

* * *

**Not Strong Enough** – Apocalyptica feat. Brent Smith

She freezes when the blaster gets put to the back of Torian's head.

She doesn't register the words spoken to her. She doesn't register her grabbing the blaster she's so heavily modified it's illegal in half the worlds of the Republic (and a fair few in the Empire). She doesn't register Blizz's squeals of excitement at a fight.

She registers the fact that Torian has a _blaster to his head_.

It's around that point that any rational part of Adriane disappears, and blind, cold rage completely takes over.

"Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur," she murmurs calmly, loud enough for Torian to hear.

Torian only smirks as the battle begins.

* * *

**I Need a Doctor** – Dr. Dre feat. Eminem and Skylar

She's bleeding everywhere and badly injured, and it's all Torian can do to keep pressure on the wounds and keep her steady.

"Hang on, hang on," he keeps telling her, but he can't tell if she's registering it.

Adriane's eyes start to flutter, and Torian's heart nearly stops in fear. "Don't die on me, cyar'ika. Don't. Adriane Lok Cadera, you better stay with me..."

He grabs her hand and squeezes it. For a few moments nothing happens, and he's afraid she's gone.

And then, she squeezes back.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Mando'a translations for all!

**cyar'ika **– sweetheart  
**k'oyacyi** – Come back alive.  
**darasuum** – always/forever  
**mesh'la** – beautiful  
**Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur** – Today is a good day for someone else to die.

That last is my absolute favorite Mando'a saying, as well as the one below:

**Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya. - **Train your sons to be strong, but your daughters to be stronger.

Hello, Adriane and Torian's parenting style. :D

Next time: Rayley and Corso.


	3. Drabbles 21 - 30 (Rayley and Corso)

**Author's Note:** Look! I'm updating again! Woo! This time it's my smuggler Rayley Okarr's turn. However, there is a quick cameo from a certain Bounty Hunter in here, and a mention to a soon-to-appear certain Sith Inquisitor. So take that as you will.

I don't own The Old Republic. Just my little headcanon twists. So please don't sue me. I'm poor. Nothing for them to take. As a warning though, major spoilers for the Smuggler storyline follow. Read at your own risk.

Please review, guys. I honestly want to know what you think. But thank you to the four who put this story on their favorites and the three who put it on alert. Thank you all so much! :) And remember that reviews inspire me to write, so, reviews mean updates. But thank you for reading no matter what!

And also, I have a poll up on my profile. Please take a moment and go vote on who you want me to focus on more. :)

* * *

**A Drabble a Dozen  
**A drabble collection exploring the characters and couples of the Old Republic.

* * *

**Drabbles 21 - 30**  
_Rayley Okarr and Corso Riggs_  
"And what's with the captain crap? Rayley, Corso. _Rayley_. It's not a bad word." "Whatever you say, Cap… Rayley." "Good boy."

* * *

**Gives You Hell** – All American Rejects

"I'll kill him."

"I'm sure you will, Captain."

"There won't be a body."

"Of course not."

"I'm going to… gah, the womanizing, chauvinistic asshole _stole my kriffing ship_!"

"I noticed, Captain."

"And what's with the captain crap? Rayley, Corso. _Rayley_. It's not a bad word."

"Whatever you say, Cap… Rayley."

"Good boy. Now, back to what we were discussing…"

"You killing Skavak."

"There won't be a body to find…"

* * *

**Jar of Hearts **– Christina Perri

She's going to break his heart.

Rayley is not meant for domestic bliss. The stars are in her eyes, adventure in her blood, and energy in every breath she takes.

Rayley is not the lady he treats her like. She's a fighter, drinks like a marine, swears like a pirate, and has no qualms flirting to do what she has to. She breaks the law on a daily basis, is a star-damned smuggler, and he is _so much better than her_.

She doesn't know how _he_ doesn't know that.

Because stars dammit, she knows that Corso Riggs deserves so much better than her. And she knows someday, he'll realize that too, and then leave her for good, alone again, forever.

He never does.

* * *

**Can't Fight the Moonlight** – LeAnn Rimes

Two moons are on the sky, millions of stars are glittering around them, and yet, all of Corso's attention is firmly on a laughing, grinning Rayley as she makes his way over to him.

Like so many times before, she stuns him completely. She's nothing he expected, and yet, she's become someone he trusts me than anyone in the galaxy. She's had his back, has pulled him to his feet time and time again.

"C'mon, farmboy," she murmurs grabbing his hands and pulling him a bit away from the small crowd; it's a harvest festival on some backwater planet, and Rayley decided that they could use a short break. He doesn't know where the others are. Honestly, he could care less.

Rayley's right here, though, and for now, that's all he needs.

Minutes later, he's kissing her and thinking _there's nowhere I'd rather be._

* * *

**50 Ways to Say Goodbye** – Train

"And that makes five bar fights in the past month. Congratulations. I think that's a new record for us."

"I didn't start it-"

"Yes, you did!"

"They were flirting with you!"

A laugh comes, dry and amused, and stars, she's just asking _to be punched in the face_. "You flirt with anything with legs, Rayley."

The petite smuggler in question scowls and tries to sit up. "Shut up, Risha!" she snaps, wincing as a trickle of blood escapes the kolto patch on forehead. She glares across the common area at an exhausted-looking Corso. "Those whores were flirting with you. And three of those bar fights were started by Bowie or Akaavi…"

"Two were started by you with woman flirting with Corso." Risha smirks dryly. "You'd think that he'd be starting bar fights over you."

"He's a gentleman." Rayley smiles darkly, and Corso can feel about ten years knocked off his life as she adds, with pride in her voice, "I'm not a lady."

* * *

**All We Are** – OneRepublic

"Stars kriffing _dammit_!"

Corso winces, holds her hand, and tries to keep his gaze away from his captain's severely broken leg, the product of literally being hit by a speeder. His captain suddenly has a good reason to hate the Outer Rim planets even more than she already does. "Stay still, Captain-"

Out of the absolute agonizing pain comes undiluted, snapping annoyance. "_Rayley_, Corso!" As Risha stabs a needle of sedative into her arm, Rayley glares at him, fury in his eyes. "You're my boyfriend, dammit, you better kriffing call me… Ray…"

Her eyes start drooping slightly, and she leans heavily against his shoulder. "Stay here," she begs, quietly. "Don't say goodbye like-"

"I'm not going anywhere, Rayley," he murmurs. He kisses the top of her head as she falls asleep, and he repeats in his had _I will never leave you_.

She spends the night in the kolto tank.

He spends the night on a cot next to it.

* * *

**I Told You So** – Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis

"Say it, Captain."

As they make their way through the spaceport, back to Nico's Luck, Rayley shoots him a confused look. "What, Riggs?" she asks, genuinely confused.

"About Rona. You knew something was up, and I didn't listen to you, and you were right. You told me so, Captain. Go ahead and say it."

He stops next to a window looking over the city-planet, and doesn't look at her. Rayley feels her heart break into a few million pieces in that moment.

Stars _dammit_, he's about to make her cry. Corso looks like a kid whose kath hound pup was kicked right in front of him. These are the moments where she remembers that he's still the boy she picked up on a backwater, war-torn world, who lost as much as she did there.

Even more, actually, she tells herself.

"I'm sorry I was right," she whispers.

She knows it's not enough. But she has to try for him.

* * *

**Semi-Charmed Life** – Third Eye Blind

"So, are we playing Republic Senate rules?" Adriane asks as she pulls out a deck of pazaak cards. "Or are we actually playing for credits?"

They're on Nar Shaddaa once again, and Corso was more than a little surprised when Rayley pulled him towards a higher-class cantina, to a small booth in the back, where a couple was already sitting. He's even more surprised to learn that his wife is best friends with the Grand Champion of the Great Hunt. He's not surprised that they've decided to have a double date without consulting either Corso or Adriane's husband, because if Adriane is anything like Rayley, Torian knows it's pointless to argue.

"Nar Shaddaa Rules," Rayley corrects instantly. She smirks at both Torian and Corso, but to the Mandalorian's credit, he just rolls his eyes.

Adriane groans, clearly not phased by her best friend flirting with her husband - because, after all, this is _Rayley_. "If you want to see Corso naked, you can just go to the back room," she replies.

"Or she can wait until later," Corso finds himself replying instantly.

He pauses, surprised at the words that just burst forward, but Adriane has burst into laughter, Torian has chuckled and smirked, and Rayley is staring at him in amazement.

And then, the most brilliant, excited smile comes forward on Rayley's face. "I knew I was rubbing off on you," she replies. And then she leans in, kisses him, and then whispers, "I love you so much, farmboy."

* * *

**Better Now** – Collective Soul

Rayley starts the chaos with two words: "I'm pregnant."

Everyone at breakfast pauses and looks at her, silent, for several tense moments.

And then everything goes nuts.

Bowie howls loudly and rushes over, pulling Corso and Rayley into a tight, thrilled hug, all while howling even louder. Guss starts groaning about how any spawn of Rayley's is bound to be a danger to their sanity. Akaavi manages a smile and mentions something about training the brat. Risha even looks thrilled, and when Rayley mentions to her that she'll be holdmother of the kid, she looks like she's about to cry.

Corso just stands there, staring at Rayley in shock. And then she looks back, and he realizes she's terrified.

He pulls her into a hug, whispers, "I love you, and I love that baby", and realizes that this is just another new adventure. They'll find their way.

They always do.

* * *

**Halfway There** – Big Time Rush

At some point on the shuttle ride to Coruscant, Corso finds himself in the land of the awake, and realizes that he's resting his head on Rayley's, whose head in turn is on his shoulder. He blushes when he realizes that he's glad for that.

For a few moments, he pauses, wondering if that's wrong or even too much right now, considering he met this smuggler less than a week ago.

And then he realizes he's exhausted, she's exhausted, they spent hours running around in a volcano trying and failing to find her ship, and that resting his head on a pretty girl's shoulder isn't too bad right now. Especially considering that this ship is incredibly uncomfortable and that Rayley's a very pretty girl.

He goes back to sleep, but the blush on his face remains.

* * *

**The Show Goes On** – Lupe Fiasco

"So, what exactly do we do now?"

Rayley pauses at the actually legitimate question of Corso's as she sits in the pilot's chair of _Nico's Luck_. She's taken over most of the criminal underworld, has killed the Voidwolf, taken the title of Voidhound, and has received the highest award a citizen of the Republic can receive.

What _does_ she do now?

"Honeymoon, farmboy," Rayley replies, pulling a hand through her dark red locks before turning back to him, a grin on her face. "Unless you have another idea."

Corso chuckles and smiles at her, calmly and quietly, in a way that she realizes he has every confidence in her. "Rayley, you're on top of the galaxy. I doubt anything can stop you now."

For the hundredth time that hour at least, she's reminded why she loves him.

* * *

**Leave Out All the Rest** – Linkin Park

"So, you dated a pirate."

"Well, saying that Andronikos and I dated would be a bit of an exaggeration…"

"How so?"

"Because we knew nothing was ever going to come out of us other than certain… _benefits_."

"Such as?"

"Corso, are you going to make me spell this out?"

"Dammit, Rayley, I just want to know what you two are!"

"_Friends_, Corso! Andronikos is married! He's clearly crazy about her, and he _married_ her! And he's even worse about commitment than I am! And he's married to a Sith! Do you think a guy would risk marrying a Sith unless he was positive he was completely in love with her?"

"…good point."

"I have a question for you then."

"Go ahead."

"Andronikos is a fantastic friend. One of my best."

"But…"

"He's not you, Corso. So why are you worrying?"

* * *

**Cowboy Take Me Away** – Dixie Chicks

"Rayley Riggs."

Rayley frowns at the amused tone in her new husband's voice as they stand in the kitchen. It's their turn for dinner duty, and it coincides with their first night as a married couple. "Rayley _Okarr_ Riggs," she stresses, shooting her husband a mock baleful glare. "I am not going to have some alliterative name. The Okarr remains."

"But you know people are going to refer to you as Rayley Riggs," Corso tells her, grinning when he sees the irritation on her face.

"Stars dammit, Corso, why did I marry you?" Rayley groans, clearly a bit upset about the fact that her name now sounds like a character on a kid's holonet show.

Corso smiles and leans in, kissing her softly before pulling away. "Because you know I'm yours. Forever."

In that moment, Rayley decides that being a Riggs might not be so bad.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next time is Kadie and Andronikos. :) Please review!


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